Shaun,

Mine had brakes on it----Hold the brakes...Rev it up...Release the brakes....Watch it try to swap ends. We ended up not using the brakes except to stop the model during the taxi, landing, etc...

Don't get me wrong---I LOVED this plane!!! It was my "just throw it in the car and go fly" plane. Very short takeoffs. We lost the model due to interference. This was the older kit. We bought another (New and improved version) and flew the snot out of it until my buddy had a dead stick with it. He tried to stretch the glide---Stall, snap, spin, crash. Just keep the speed up and you'll be fine!

Kevin